Supporting step



R. J. \NHITE SUPPORTING STEP March 2,1948.

. Filed Aug. 13, 1946 Wa n 7&2 E. J. W/l/fE mmufyza-di Patented Mar. 2, 1948 UNITED STATES-PATENT OFFICE SUPPORTING STEP Raymond J. White Long-VieW, Tex.

Application August 13, 1946, Serial No. 690,237 i 2 Claims. (Cl. 304 28) This invention relates in general to portable Q supporting appliances and more specifically to a detachable supporting step for use in supporting an operator in making adjustments and repairs to oil well pumping equipment.

Heretofore, it has been common practice, when pulling and running sucker rods in the process of putting on and taking off sucker rod elevators, to use a rigid or "Tremo wrench on the polish rod as a support for the workmen. Generally, one or two men hold this wrench as a workman stands on the handle portion. Due to the instability of the gripping surfaces of the wrench and the lack of conformity of the handle of a wrench to a workmans shoe-covered foot, accidents often occur from this practice with resultant injury to the workmen. In addition to the hazards involved in such practice, the Wrench produces rough indentures on the polish rod, thereby damaging the stuffing box and its packing with resultant leakage of fluid pumped from wells.

It is one object of this invention to;overcome the disadvantages of prior practice in supporting the worker while making such adjustments and repairs on oil well pumping equipment.

Another object of this invention is to provide a portable supporting step to be securely and rigidly, but detachably, mounted on polish rods of oil well pumping equipment.

A further object of this invention is to provide a safety step to act as a support for workmen while engaged in pulling and running sucker rods, which will eliminate the hazards caused by the use of makeshift expedients.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a support step of the above character which may be used without causing damage to the rod itself and which will eliminate fluid leakage from a stumng box.

With these and other objects in mind, which will become apparent from the following specification, the invention consists in the parts and combinations therein set forth with the understanding that various changes may be made therein, such as in the size, shape and arrangement of parts or by the substitution of equivalent clamping means, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In order to give a clearer understanding of the invention, there is illustrated in the accompanying drawings a preferred means for carrying the same into effect,

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the supporting step shown in use.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the step shown in Figure 1.

.Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the step.

In general, the appliance comprises a cantilever foot-engaging element which acts as a step or support and which includes a clamping device for securing the step into tight frictional en agement with the cylindrical surface of a polish rod of oil ,Well pumping equipment.

' has formed therewith a C-shapBd or channeled portion 3 having opposed parallel flanges 3A and 4 perpendicular to the element I. The inner face of the flange 4 (adjacent the foot-engaging element) is provided with a groove 4 which extends perpendicularly to the upper or foot-engaging face IA of the element I. The cross-sectional shape of the groove 4 may be of any convenient contour, such as V-shaped, but preferably is arcuate conforming substantially in radius and contour to that of the polish rod to which the step is to be attached.

The opposite flange 3A of the channel portion 3 is provided with a screw threaded aperture 5 Whose axis is perpendicular to the inner face of the flange and intersects the groove 4'. A screw 6 corresponding in size to the aperture 5 of flange 3A is inserted therein. The inner end of the screw carries a block 8 secured thereto by suitable means such as a cap screw ID which passes through an aperture in the block 8 and is threaded into an axial recess in the extremity of screw 6. The block 8 has a verticalheight equal to the vertical height of the C-shaped web walls,

and a width comparable to the rectangular opening of the channel. The inner side face ll of block 8 is in continuous sliding engagement with wall 33 of the C-shaped portion 3. Opposite the groove 4, 4 of the flange 3 is a complementary groove 9 in the front face of the block 8 extending vertically the length thereof. Passing through the opposite end of screw 6 is a transverse lever 1.

To attach the appliance to a polish rod 20, such as is shown in Figure 1, ample clearance is obtained by rotating the screw 6 counter-clockwise, thereby increasing the opening between block 8 and wall 4 of the C-shaped portion. Once the rod is within the walls of the C-shaped portion, the operating screw is rotated clockwise, thereby bringing the complementary surfaces of block 8 and wall 4 into frictional engagement with the diametrically opposed surfaces of the rod. The appliance can now be considered in position and ready for use.

In its attached position, it will be seen that the foot-engaging element extends substantially perpendicularly to the polish rod 20, this position being maintained in use by the rigid cantilever support afforded by the appreciable length of the flange 3 and block 8 and the tight clamping engagement provided by the screw.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention provides a safe, portable supporting step for use by workmen while engaged in the operation and maintenance of oil well pumping equipment. Whereas I have described the desired embodiment of my invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise details of construction herein set forth as it is obvious that many changes and variations may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A detachable supporting device for attach ment to a vertical polish rod of oil well pumping equipment comprising an elongated foot supporting step, said step having a C-shaped portion formed integrally with one end of the step, the said c-shaped portion being of suflicient width and depth to loosely engage the said rod, a rod engaging groove in the face of the C-sha'ped portion nearest the step, said groove being substantially perpendicular to the step, a threaded aperture directly opposite the groove in the opposed face of the c-shaped portion, a screw operatively positioned in the threaded aperture, a rod engaging block attached to the end of the screw adjacent the groove, said block having a rod engaging groove substantially perpendicular to the step and directly opposite and parallel to the first mentioned rod engaging groove, and

4 means to rotate the screw to force the block against the rod and thereby bring both grooved rod engaging surfaces into clamping engagement with said rod.- 1

A detachable supporting device for attachment to a vertical polish rod of oil well pumping equipment comprising an elongated foot supporting step having a flanged outer edge, said step having a C-shaped portion formed integrally with the remaining end of the step, the said C-shaped portion having three inner faces and being of sufiicient width and depth to loosely engage the said rod, a rod engaging groove in the face of the C-shaped portion nearest the step, said groove being substantially perpendicular to the step, a threaded aperture directly opposite the groove in the opposed face of the C-shaped portion, a screw operatively positioned in the threaded aperture, a rod engaging block attached to the end of said screw, said block having a rod engaging groove substantially perpendicular to the step and directly opposite and parallel to the said first mentioned rod engaging groove, and a lever which passes through the opposite end of the screw to rotate the screw and force the block against the rod and thereby bring both grooved rod engaging surfaces into clamping engagement with said rod.

RAYMOND J. WHITE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

